I usually prefer to watch movies in one sitting, but Irreplaceable You made me break that habit for the first time. I couldn't handle watching it in one day—I found myself breaking down repeatedly, my glasses filled with tears. The film left me with a profound sense of what it means to be irreplaceable. It made me think about how someone might cope if I were to leave this world and whether they would find it as difficult as I found watching this movie.
In this little world of mine, I do have someone like that. Having such a person made this film particularly hard for me, just as it might for you.
The storyline is straightforward: self-possessed Abbi (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and science nerd Sam (Michiel Huisman) have been together since childhood. They plan their wedding and expect a child, but instead, Abbi is diagnosed with stage-four cancer. She becomes consumed with worrying about Sam—how he will cope without her, how he will manage mundane tasks like choosing the right pair of socks, and how he will ever love another woman. Rather than focusing on her own loss, she dedicates her remaining days to making his life a bit more bearable after she’s gone.
The movie takes you on an emotional journey where you find yourself experiencing Abbi's fears, Sam's struggles, and the helplessness of those around them.
When I entered a long-distance relationship with the love of my life, I worried about all the worst-case scenarios. I feared what might happen if one of us died before we could see each other again, or if I couldn't hold his face in my hands one last time, or if we couldn't express our love for each other one last time.
As a typical long-distance girlfriend, I once asked him what he would do if I died before him. He paused for a moment and said he would never move on from me. I was sad to hear that and told him he should move on and live his life. Even though I knew he probably wouldn't, I wished for that, just as Abbi wished for Sam to be okay.
I read somewhere that in a secure relationship, you don’t worry about the other person cheating on you; the only real fear is the possibility of losing them to death.
Irreplaceable You is a must-watch emotional drama that will make you appreciate the little things in life.